Difference between revisions of "Belief"

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The human mind always finds itself in the awkward position of knowing less than it can '''believe'''.
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The human mind always finds itself in the awkward position of knowing less than it can '''believe'''.[http://mercy.urantia.org/cgi-bin/webglimpse/mfs/usr/local/www/data/papers?link=http://mercy.urantia.org/papers/paper3.html&file=/usr/local/www/data/papers/paper3.html&line=120#mfs]

Revision as of 21:07, 15 December 2007

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Belief is the psychological state in which an individual is convinced of the truth of a proposition. Like the related concepts truth, knowledge, and wisdom, there is no precise definition of belief on which scholars agree, but rather numerous theories and continued debate about the nature of belief.

Belief, knowledge and epistemology

False beliefs are not knowledge, even if the individual believes them to be true; a sincere believer in the flat earth theory does not know that the Earth is flat. Unknown facts are not knowledge, because they are not known by any individual; it is the belief element in a true belief that makes the link between a state of affairs and an individual. Unjustified true beliefs are lucky guesses, and therefore not knowledge.

A primary problem for epistemology is exactly what is needed, in addition to true belief, in order for us to have knowledge. In the dialogue Theaetetus, Plato has Socrates examine and reject the proposal that knowledge is justified true belief. More recently, this view has been challenged by the Gettier problem which suggests that justified true belief does not provide a complete picture of knowledge.

An idea is, in some forms of philosophy, accepted as the opposite of belief. Often a belief is something accepted, by the believer, as a truth, and therefore resists change. An idea is a thought that, while still being accepted by the thinker, is not held to such truth as belief, and can be changed, molded, or added onto with improvements or suggestions.[1]


The human mind always finds itself in the awkward position of knowing less than it can believe.[2]